Bruce McDuffee and I did our first podcast at Manufacturing Marketing Institute. Our topic was content saturation and how the lack of good content from your industrial competitors creates a huge opportunity for B2B lead generation for savvy industrial marketers.

Key takeaways from this podcast:

A fresh way to look at your industrial marketing strategy

Content marketing or inbound marketing works, but it is hard and it is worth getting some outside help.

Take advantage of the huge opportunity by embracing modern marketing strategy & tactics, SEO, content marketing and marketing automation.

A particular focus on the concept of content saturation and how to use Google’s commands to research your competitors’

In the last couple of years, I have started two inbound marketing projects from major industrial companies that initially bought into the idea of content marketing or inbound marketing. I could sense a natural reluctance from these two baby-boomers. One owner even told me he did not expect this marketing effort to work. I then ask him why he was moving forward, his response was, “I hear this is thing to do”.

I learned my lesson. I should have stopped him from writing the check right there.

In both cases, the projects were going well. That is, the web sites received a fresh look, the web traffic was up by over 300%, in both cases the web forms were gathering leads and product quotes. I was thrilled at the progress.

Then the owners lost interest and went on to the next shining object. After only 6 months. Sound familiar? Need I say more?

Contrast those cases with a committed, long-term vision, of extending their industrial brand theme using inbound marketing for top-of-mind awareness and lead generation.

[Infographic] For industrial marketers, a blog is great for B2B lead generation & to extend your brand. Here is how serious bloggers do it

If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times. Hands down, creating a helpful industry blog is the best way to drive traffic to your web site, extend your industrial brand and create top-of-mind awareness. And…a first step in your content marketing strategy.

I write often about examples of industrial marketers using blogs for lead generation and brand extension.

Getting a grasp on content saturation and using marketing automation allows your industrial business to dominate your online competitors

It takes four steps to get a home run in baseball; first base, second, third & home plate.

Imagine hitting a home run for your industrial marketing strategy.

Imagine only four steps to creating an online presence that dominants your industrial niche. Imagine…every time a prospect types in your businesses’ critical keywords they land on your blog, a white paper, or a very cool premium e-book. Or…maybe they land on a recent interview you did with an industry expert explaining how your engineers solved an age-old industry challenge. Imagine the B2B lead generation for your business.

Understanding content saturation and marketing automation gives you the opportunity to own your specialized industrial niche for B2B lead generation.

Just imagine owning your online industrial niche.

I wrote a blog post this past July, briefly, expounding on content saturation and what a bonanza it is for industrial marketers. The blog post was well received, particularly by other industrial marketers.

I still believe it is an unbelievable opportunity for most industrial marketers. Allow me to expound a little more about content saturation. Maybe…I will convince a few more, perceptive, B2B industrial marketers.

As an example of low saturation, allow me to give you a little “inside baseball” stuff. (Sorry…one of my favorite metaphors… since the Royals just beat up my Tigers this year and won the World Series this past Sunday)

I find many industrial marketers resist quality content marketing. This recent research from IHSEngineering360 should put the doubters on notice.

I had a meeting this morning with a very progressive industrial marketer. We were developing a focused content marketing strategy built on the HubSpot marketing automation platform. What a pleasure to work with such a forward thinking marketer.

Then I came back to my office and the latest report from IHSEngineering360 (formerly GlobalSpec) was in my inbox. These guys do some of the best research in the industrial sector and I always read their content and save their reports for later reference.

Here are a few highlights:

You must connect with potential customers early in their buy cycle in order to be a contender later when they are ready to make a purchase decision.

You must be found in the early stages of the buy cycle to be on the buyer’s short list.

As in-person tradeshows continue to experience decline, webinars have filled the void for interaction between technical professionals and vendors.

Digital publications, which fit neatly with engineers’ online work behavior, trump printed trade magazines as an information resource across all age groups.

While you may not drive sales directly through social media, you can distribute your content, build brand awareness and help to establish a thought leadership position—as well as interact with a new generation of technical professionals.

Based on my own knowledge, my own instincts and data from HIS Engineering360, I predict our progressive marketer I met with this morning will own his online niche in a couple years…with resulting sales results.